At the beginning of the season, the Concord boys’ track team aimed to be in the mix for the Division I title, but now, with the Division I championship meet less than a week away, the girls’ team is also in the conversation.
The Tide girls’ won 10 of 18 events and swept the relays at the six-team Crimson Tide Capital Classic on Saturday in a non-scoring meet at Memorial Field against Merrimack Valley, Bow, Pembroke, Pelham and Goffstown.
“(The girls) are turning into one of the top programs. They keep developing,” Concord Head Coach Hayden Daly said.
Among the highlights for Concord was sophomore Grace Devanny, who won the 200 in 26.41 seconds and finished second in the 400 in 57.9 seconds, a similar time to what she ran last year in her third-place finish at New Englands.
Jennika Mannesota closed in on the school record in the 3,200, winning in 11:04.
Other individual winners for the Tide were Katelyn Jelley in the 100 (13.14), Ella Fabozzi in the pole vault (7-8), Ennosen Yen in the triple jump (32-7), Julia Miville in the shot put (29-9½) and Stephanie Oberg in the javelin (110-9).
Devanny, Jelley (third long jump) and freshmen Sarah Waite and Faith Hatcher formed the winning 4×100 team (51.7); Devanny, Sarah Zarakotas (second 800), Waite and Ellie Erickson formed the winning 4×400 team (4:28) and Mannesto, Gillian Bennett, Zarakotas and Ally Leuci won the 4×400 (10:37).
Cassie Shea (second 1,600), Molly Bragg (second 3,200) and Yelena Beausoleil (second discus) also had strong individual finishes.
“That’s the program we want them to turn into and that’s what’s been happening,” Daly said. “That’s because of consistent hard work and getting better at their craft. There’s a lot of talent in that group.”
The Concord boys looked prepared for states in the sprints and distance events, the usual strengths for the Tide boys.
Forest Mackenzie won the 3,200 (9:54) and Jamie Wilkes won the 800 (2:04), while the 4×800 relay team of Wilkes, Aiden O’Hern, Ryan Devine (second 1,600) and Colin Conery won in 8:18. Eli Boesch-Dining (second 3,200) also ran well in the distance events.
The Tide opted to rest its top sprinter, Dalton Mutz, but still had strong performances from Zackary Jenks (second 100, third 200), Clinton Mungeta (second 200) and the second-place 4×100 relay team of Mungeta, Pat Hall, Sam Orzechowski and Liam Devanny.
The 4×400 relay (Hall, Mungeta, Wilkes and Conery) won in 3:39 while Manny Feliz won the long jump (19-¼) and Adam Dwight won the pole vault (10-1) for the Tide.
Merrimack Valley did well in their final tune-up before next weekend’s D-II championships. The boys’ 4×100 team of John Barger, Joey Baylus, Teigan Friedrich and Brandon Wood finished in 45.34, .06 seconds ahead of the perennial powerhouses from Concord.
Baylus swept the hurdle events, winning the 110 hurdles in 15.84 and the 300 hurdles in 41.98. Zack Cronin (high jump at 5-11) and Nick Bartlett (javelin in 149-5) were the other winners for the Pride boys.
For the MV girls, Kristie Schoffield set a meet record in the 400, winning in 56.81. Freshman Emma York won both the 800 (2:32) and the 1,600 (5:40) and Kaitlyn Covell won the 100 hurdles in 17.37.
Bow held its own as the only D-III school at the meet.
Dominique Biron won the most individual events out of any athlete in the meet, taking the long jump (16-4¼), high jump (5-2) and 300 hurdles (49.84), and she finished second in the 100.
Brian Bushnell won the 100 (11.76) and the 400 (51.78) to lead the Bow boys.
Pembroke’s Alyssa Hubbard won the discus with a distance of 87-7 and Madison Bennett finished third in the 3,200. Wyatt Yeaton (fourth 1,600) was the top finisher for the Pembroke boys.
The Division I championship will be on Friday at Merrimack while the D-II and D-III championships will be next Saturday and Kennett and Belmont, respectively.
Wilderness Championship
Key players: Belmont – Eli Allman (1st 110 hurdles in 15.67, 4th 300 hurdles), Zach Ennis (2nd 3,200), Hunter Dupuis (3rd 200), Adam Sojka (3rd triple jump), Ian Remenar (3rd 110 hurdles, 5th 110 hurdles), 4×100 (1st), 4×400 (1st), 4×800 (5th); Kearsarge – Grant Croft (1st pole vault at 12-0, 4th 110 hurdles, 4th triple jump, 5th 300 hurdles), John Cunningham (2nd pole vault), Andrew Shepherd (3rd, 3,200); Inter-Lakes – Ian Daly (1st 800 in 2:00), Eli Dupigny (1st long jump at 20-2¼), 4×800 (1st), 4×400 (2nd); Newfound¼ – Leo Ntourntourekas (1st shot put at 46-8½, 1st discus at 126-9); Gilford½ – Finn Baldin (2nd javelin), Korey Weston (3rd long jump); ¼Winnisquam¼½ – Scott Hinds (1st 400 in 51.73, 6th 200); ¼Franklin¼½ – Gio Lemon (1st javelin at 153-4); ¼Bishop Brady¼½ – Sean Sullivan (3rd discus)
Highlights/key moments: Belmont (80 points) cemented its status as a team to beat at the D-III state meet, defeating 17 other teams to win the Wilderness Championships hosted by Gilford. Kingswood (62), Plymouth (62), Kennett (59) and Kearsarge (53) rounded out the top five. Inter-Lakes (7th, 42), Newfound (8th, 29), Gilford (11th, 16), Winnisquam (12th, 15), Franklin (15th, 11) and Bishop Brady (16th, 8) also competed. Laconia competed, but did not score.
Wilderness Championship
Key players: Inter-Lakes – Emma Wheeler (1st 300 hurdles in 48.34, 1st long jump in 15-2½, 1st triple jump in 34-6, 2nd high jump), Amanda Kurowski (2nd 100 hurdles), Alison Haight (3rd pole vault), Mollie Durand (3rd javelin); Gilford– Lauren Dean (1st 400 in 1:02, 3rd long jump), Marina Baer (1st javelin in 133-9), Brianna Fraser (5th 400, 5th 100), Natalie Fraser (2nd 400, 5th 200), 4×100 (1st), 4×400 (1st); Belmont– Jasmine Syed (1st 800 in 2:30), Alice Riley (1st 1,600 in 5:26, 1st 3,200 in 11:46), 4×800 (3rd); Kearsarge– Jenna Bears (2nd 3,200), Avril Prak (3rd 400), Mya Dube (3rd 1,600), 4×100 (3rd); Newfound – Becky Norton (3rd discus) ; Laconia – Delia Cormier (5th 1,600); Winnisquam – Olivia Doubleday (5th javelin)
Highlights/key moments: Inter-Lakes was the top area team at the 18-team Wilderness Championships. Kennett (99 points) and White Mountains (84) were the top two teams with Inter-Lakes (70), Gilford (60) and Plymouth (52) rounding out the top five. Belmont (seventh, 43), Kearsarge (eighth, 32), Newfound (12th, 10), Laconia (13th, 6), Winnisquam (14th, 2) and Bishop Brady and Franklin (no score) also competed.
Newfound 16, Raymond 11
Key players: Newfound – Ashlee Dukette (4-for-5, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 4 runs), Amanda Johnston (2 IP, 3 K, 0 R; 4-for-5, HR, 5 RBI, 4 runs)
Highlights/key moments: The Bears built a 6-0 lead after one and pushed it to 11-2 after three. Johnston homered for the third straight game and freshmen Hayleigh Pabst (2-for-3, walk, run) and Caroline Marchand (1-for-1, run, RBI) played well in their varsity call up.
Records: Newfound 9-4; Raymond 2-12